Visitors

We only see Cormorants on the lake in winter.  Usually there are four or five lined up on a log out on the lake, drying their wings.  I didn't have my camera with me and besides, it was a dull morning
( weatherwise) and the internet provides much better photos than I can take.

There were numerous male Mergansers and a few female that I saw.  I think the Common Merganser is one of the handsomest birds.  I'm glad they come down to spend the winter here.

Now here is a picture I took.  We have 3 or 4 cats that visit our back yard. This one posed nicely for a piccture ( taken through a not-so-clean window at dusk).

Many of you will be busy getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I hope all your preparations are going well.

Thanks for taking time to visit today,   G.M.

Christmas Craft Sale and Fruit Cake

I think I'm about done with craft sales.  I walk by all the lovely things but there's nothing I really want, at least, I'm not willing to pay as much for.  I took pictures but bought nothing.

I believe it was last year that Mama's Mercantile posted that she had a red mixing bowl that she only used at Christmas for her baking. I thought that was such a great idea that I started my search for my own red bowl.  It is a heavy one ( as opposed to the little plastic red one that I use every day).
Here's my fruit cake being mixed up.

This is what it looked like when I took it out of the oven.  I've made Christmas cake for many years but I think this year's turned out the best ever.  Very dark and moist.

I baked it in an 8 by 12 pan and cut it into 5 slightly crooked pieces.  I wrapped them in aluminum foil. Two have already been given to fruit cake lovers.  Whether they eat them now or keep them for Christmas is up to them.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I love to read all comments so please don't hesitate to leave one.

GRANNY MARIGOLD

Butterflies

Thank you all who had suggestions to fix the font size on my blog. I think it's back to normal  now.

Margaret, who blogs at At Home In New Zealand, expressed an interest in my Butterfly 'collection'.
It started when she noticed my bookmark in one of my pictures. Those butterflies are painted by
Christopher Marley and on the back of the bookmark he identifies each one.

I also have framed butterflies mostly from other countries where they grow them a lot bigger than what we have.  All the butterflies that I have have been raised in farms and not taken from the wild.

I won't bore you with all the names but this lovely blue one is called Morpho Didius and came from Brazil.

The green one is  Papilio Blumei  and came from Sulawesi.  ( Sure hope I copied down the names correctly.  I had to stand on a chair to read the backs of the pictures.)

This is the cupboard that my DH built for this collection of mine. It hangs on the wall of the sunroom.

It's been a busy day.  I baked my Christmas cake ( pictures coming soon)  and made Split Pea Soup for supper ( which we haven't had yet).

Thanks for visiting today,

Granny Marigold

Having a Problem

Have you noticed how tiny the words are on my blog lately?  At least, they are on my computer.
I have no idea what to do about it and I'm afraid that if I try adjusting stuff I'll make the problem worse. I am so technologically challenged!!     G.M.

Wool Felting and a Teacup

I think these little treasures are made of felted wool but maybe not.  If you can tell just by looking at them please tell me.  They're so soft, I just love them.
The picture insists on being sideways. Sorry about that.

I picked those three up a week or so ago but today I went to the thrift store and found this pretty teacup for .50.  The teacups that have words on them tend not to sell so eventually they get marked down drastically.  I'm fond of dishes with pansies or violets so this one will fit in with my other ones.

Just a short post today. I made myself a list of things that needed doing today so I must get working on it.   When I was making my list I thought about a young friend who was an awful housekeeper when she was first married. After the first baby arrived things got to be such a problem that she sat down with a stack of blank cards, I think they were  different colours.  She wrote down all the daily chores on one colour, all the weekly ones on another, and all the once a year ones on yet another.
She was determined to change her ways and  today she is a terrific housekeeper and not only has a tidy house but does a lot of different crafts too.

Thanks for stopping by,

Granny Marigold

This and That

A cup of herbal tea and a thrift store treasure. Small Churches of Canada, full of pictures and write-ups about, well, small churches photographed by the writer, with a short  description of each. I'm enjoying this book a few pages at a time.

We got out our Christmas lights and checked to see how many had died since we packed them up last January.  How is it that they can just quit even though they worked fine until we took them down?
A couple of strings of the multi-coloured ones no longer worked so off we went to the thrift store where we found a nice long set for $2.   Of course we had a little look-around and found a display of Christmas CDs for .50 each,  We have started playing Christmas music already and were in need of more variety.  Ten CDs cost a fraction of what one single new CD would cost.

The Paperwhite bulbs I bought a week or so ago are showing some growth at last.  They had sprouted in the box and were very crooked. I'm pleased they seem to be straightening up.
Hopefully they will bloom in time for Christmas.

Thanks for visiting today.  Obviously nothing much is happening around here but I just wanted to pop by and say HI.  I hope you're having a great day!!

Granny Marigold

Two More Walks and another Squirrel Tale

Yesterday when I walked I saw the Eagle up in the usual tree. It was eating what I assume was a fish.
The other Eagle wasn't around, or at least I didn't see it.

This morning the world looked very different. The fog was thick and the view was amazing!!

I don't think I posted these pictures of yet  another squirrel trying its best to get at the suet feeder. 
Like the previous one this little character finally had to give up. Last time the squirrel was a grey one but we have both grey and black ones around. I have no idea if they are separate species. I guess I should try to find out.  ( I really need to clean up around my garden shed!).

A quick trip to the thrift store this morning yielded no teacups, just more reading material. I WAS making progress on my waiting-to-be-read book stack but now it grew again.   Now I have the breadmaker going and  later I'll do some baking. Maybe use some of the glace fruit I bought. Some of you wondered if I was going to make fruit cake. I haven't decided but first I'll make my Christmas Stollen ( a fruit bread traditionally eaten at Christmas in German households). Here's a picture off the internet. My recipe makes 5 or 6 of these loaves.

Thanks for coming by,

                   Granny Marigold